What Is Inside the Mountain? / Dağın İçinde Ne Var?", hand embroidery on unbleached cotton fabric, 600 x 200 cm, edition 1/1, 2026. "The Path is the Soul of a Mountain - Elements That Shape Life Exhibition Series III" Group Exhibition, curated by Melike Bayık, Oksitosin & Greenhouse Art Days, Antalya. Photos: Karanlık Kutu
"What Is Inside the Mountain?" is the physical record of a two-week Ecological Artist Residency at Oksitosin & Greenhouse Art Days in Geyikbayırı. Produced in-situ, the artwork occupies a hybrid space where architectural precision meets the imperfect nature of handcraft. Its foundation rests on a strict 1/1000 scale digital cross-section of Geyik Sivrisi and its valley.
Embroidered onto raw canvas, this cold engineering data is intentionally disrupted by the organic actors who truly own the landscape. The composition examines the state of co-existence through the lens of magical realism. Here, animals and natural elements are scaled not by physical size, but by their hierarchical power and semantic significance within the ecosystem.
Beneath the rigid contour lines, a complex network of karst voids and underground water flows merges with heavy, knotted roots descending deep into the earth. Above, a giant frog reigns as the valley’s water keeper, while an Anatolian leopard watches from the clouds. In contrast, human figures and architectural traces are reduced to tiny, humble knots.
This monumental textile serves as a thread-woven map of an infinite network of relations extending from the macro to the micro. It rejects the idea of sharp boundaries or rigid thresholds separating humanity from nature. Instead, the piece visualizes existence as a continuous, transformative gradient, documenting a profound and humble integration into an overwhelming geological reality.
